Friday, June 22, 2007

Hands and knees

Hope has graduated. She is no longer commando crawling, sneaking up on those (many) dust bunny enemies hidden in the corners. As of two days ago, Hope figured out how to use those knees. And when she really wants to move fast, she reverts back to the sneak attack.

This means that (re)childproofing has to begin in earnest. I always knew that Hope would be the child that is into everything. Emily was not that child. She rarely went into cupboards that were banned, she didn't get into kitchen ingredients (until older), she didn't make a quick beeline for stairs. Hope is a different ballgame.

The other day I was unloading groceries from the car. I put the kids in the house and made sure the basement door was closed. When I came back in from the first load, the basement door was wide open. To say that I broke land speed records is an understatement. And there was Hope on the landing just before the big tumble to the basement. I grabbed her and searched for some heart medication. It took me a long time to calm down.

I asked Emily (calmly) why she opened the door. She said: Hope wanted to go down there.

We'll be buying another baby gate this weekend. Seems a door is no defence against a toddler wanting to help out her sister.

3 comments:

little b said...

Phew. I think toddler proofing will be harder than baby proofing!

Anonymous said...

I still think we should drape the entire house in bubble wrap. Lots and lots of bubble wrap. When we hear the popping noises, we know something is up.

Before you dismiss this idea, let me remind you that bubble wrap parenting goes back thousands of years. If it was good enough for the Ancient Egyptians, shouldn't it be good enough for us? (Except slavery and the persecution of religious minorities. And war mongering.) Moses turned out pretty good, didn't he?

--J

Shan said...

Oh Karen, you are preaching to the choir. I have often said if I walked into the living room and found Maya swinging from the ceiling fan I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. Good luck with the "baby" proofing.